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A new report from the Asian supply chain indicates that Apple has chosen Qualcomm to produce the baseband chips for the next-generation iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm, which originally developed the CDMA protocol used on Verizon's network is also working on a dual-mode chip that would allow the same device to work on multiple networks. However, the story in the Economic Daily News did not specifically say Apple would be using such a chip in future devices.

Apple has always used Infineon as the baseband chip manufacturer for its mobile devices. However, Infineon's wireless unit was sold to Intel for $1.4 billion dollars, and while Intel's CEO claims that Steve Jobs is "very happy" about the deal, there has been tension between the two companies since Intel started working with Google on its Google Tv product. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Intel CEO Paul Otellini called Apple TV a "step backward" for Apple.

If Apple continues to release new products on the schedule it has followed historically, the second-generation iPad will be out in the first quarter of next year and the fifth-generation iPhone in June (something tells me we'll be referring to these things like we do cars: just talking about the 2011 iPhone, for example). The mention of Qualcomm's name has led a lot of observers to speculate anew about a CDMA iPhone capable of operating on Verizon's network. However, Qualcomm has been making GSM chips since 2002, and they have shown that, despite inventing CDMA and continuing to hype it worldwide, they're happy to make money selling whatever people want to buy. The dual-mode CDMA/WCDMA chip that would supposedly allow Apple to make one iPhone compatible with both networks has yet to appear, and there's no indication that Apple is working on such a phone, despite scattered rumors to the contrary.